[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 11, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6701-6703]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-2934]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 72-27]
Pacific Gas and Electric Company; Notice of Docketing, Notice of
Proposed Action, and Notice of Opportunity for a Hearing for a
Materials License for the Humboldt Bay Independent Spent Fuel Storage
Installation
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) is
considering an application dated December 15, 2003, for a materials
license under the provisions of 10 CFR part 72, from Pacific Gas and
Electric Company (the applicant or PG&E) to possess spent fuel and
other radioactive materials associated with spent fuel in an
independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) located on the site
of the Humboldt Bay Power Plant (HBPP).
[[Page 6702]]
If granted, the license will authorize the applicant to store spent
fuel from HBPP in a dry storage cask system at the ISFSI which the
applicant proposes to construct and operate on the site of HBPP. This
application was docketed under 10 CFR part 72; the ISFSI Docket No. is
72-27. The HBPP ISFSI will be located in Humboldt County, California.
If granted, the license will authorize the applicant to store spent
fuel for a term of twenty (20) years.
Prior to issuance of the requested license, the NRC will have made
the findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the
Act), and by the NRC's rules and regulations. The issuance of the
materials license will not be approved until the NRC has reviewed the
application and has concluded that issuance of the license will not be
inimical to the common defense and security and will not constitute an
unreasonable risk to the health and safety of the public. The NRC will
complete an environmental evaluation, in accordance with 10 CFR part
51, to determine if the preparation of an environmental impact
statement is warranted or if an environmental assessment and finding of
no significant impact are appropriate. This action will be the subject
of a subsequent notice in the Federal Register.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 2.105, within thirty (30) days from the date of
publication of this notice in the Federal Register, the applicant may
file a request for a hearing; and any person whose interest may be
affected by this proceeding and who wishes to participate as a party in
the proceeding must file a written request for a hearing and a petition
for leave to intervene with respect to the subject materials license in
accordance with the provisions of 10 CFR 2.714. If a request for
hearing or petition for leave to intervene is filed by the above date,
the Commission or an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board designated by
the Commission or by the Chairman of the Atomic Safety and Licensing
Board Panel will rule on the request and/or petition, and the Secretary
or the designated Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will issue a notice
of hearing or an appropriate order. In the event that no request for
hearing or petition for leave to intervene is filed by the above date,
the NRC may, upon satisfactory completion of all required evaluations,
issue the materials license without further prior notice.
As required by 10 CFR 2.714, a petition for leave to intervene
shall set forth with particularity the interest of the petitioner in
the proceeding and how that interest may be affected by the results of
the proceeding. The petition should specifically explain the reasons
why intervention should be permitted with particular reference to the
following factors: (1) The nature of the petitioner's right under the
Act to be made a party to the proceeding; (2) the nature and extent of
the petitioner's property, financial, or other interest in the
proceeding; and (3) the possible effect of any order that may be
entered in the proceeding on the petitioner's interest. The petition
should also identify the specific aspect(s) of the subject matter of
the proceeding as to which the petitioner wishes to intervene. Any
person who has filed a petition for leave to intervene or who has been
admitted as a party may amend a petition, without requesting leave of
the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, up to fifteen (15) days prior to
the holding of the first pre-hearing conference scheduled in the
proceeding, but such an amended petition must satisfy the specificity
requirements described above.
Not later than fifteen (15) days prior to the first pre-hearing
conference scheduled in the proceeding, a petitioner shall file a
supplement to the petition to intervene which must include a list of
contentions which are sought to be litigated in the matter. Each
contention must consist of a specific statement of the issue of law or
fact to be raised or controverted. In addition, the petitioner shall
provide a brief explanation of the bases for the contention and a
concise statement of the alleged facts or expert opinion which support
the contention and on which the petitioner intends to rely in proving
the contention at the hearing. The petitioner must also provide
references to those specific sources and documents of which the
petitioner is aware and on which the petitioner intends to rely to
establish those facts or expert opinion. Petitioner must provide
sufficient information to show that a genuine dispute exists with the
applicant on a material issue of law or fact. Contentions shall be
limited to matters within the scope of the action under consideration.
The contention must be one which, if proven, would entitle the
petitioner to relief. A petitioner who fails to file such a supplement
which satisfies these requirements with respect to at least one
contention will not be permitted to participate as a party.
Those permitted to intervene become parties to the proceeding,
subject to any limitations in the order granting leave to intervene,
and have the opportunity to participate fully in the conduct of the
hearing.
A request for a hearing or petition for leave to intervene must be
filed with the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555, Attention: Rulemaking and
Adjudication Staff or may be delivered to the Commission's Public
Document Room, One White Flint North Building, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, MD, by the above date. Where petitions are filed during the
last ten (10) days of the notice period, it is requested that the
petitioner promptly so inform the NRC by a toll-free telephone call
(800-368-5642 Extension 415-8500) to E. William Brach, Director, Spent
Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards,
with the following message: petitioner's name and telephone number;
date petition was mailed; plant name; and publication date and page
number of this Federal Register notice. A copy of the petition should
also be sent to the Assistant General Counsel for Materials Litigation
and Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555, and to Lawrence F. Womack, Vice President, Nuclear Services,
Humboldt Bay Power Plant, P.O. Box 56, Avila Beach, California 93424.
Non-timely filings of petitions for leave to intervene, amended
petitions, supplemental petitions, and/or requests for hearing will not
be entertained absent a determination by the Commission, the Presiding
Officer, or the presiding Atomic Safety and Licensing Board that the
petition and/or request should be granted based upon a balancing of the
factors specified in 10 CFR 2.714(a)(1)(i)-(v) and 2.714(d).
The Commission hereby provides notice that this is a proceeding on
an application for a license falling within the scope of section 134 of
the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 (NWPA), 42 U.S.C. 10154. Under
section 134 of the NWPA, the Commission, at the request of any party to
the proceeding, must use hybrid hearing procedures with respect to
``any matter which the Commission determines to be in controversy among
the parties.''
The hybrid procedures in section 134 provide for oral argument on
matters in controversy, preceded by discovery under the Commission's
rules and the designation, following argument, of only those factual
issues that involve a genuine and substantial dispute, together with
any remaining questions of law, to be resolved in an adjudicatory
hearing. Actual adjudicatory hearings are to be held on only those
issues found to meet the criteria of section 134 and set for hearing
after oral argument.
[[Page 6703]]
The Commission's rules implementing section 134 of the NWPA are
found in 10 CFR part 2, subpart K, ``Hybrid Hearing Procedures for
Expansion of Spent Fuel Storage Capacity at Civilian Nuclear Power
Reactors' (published at 50 FR 41662 dated October 15, 1985). Under
those rules, any party to the proceeding may invoke the hybrid hearing
procedures by filing with the presiding officer a written request for
oral argument under 10 CFR 2.1109. To be timely, the request must be
filed within ten (10) days of an order granting a request for hearing
or petition to intervene. The presiding officer must grant a timely
request for oral argument. The presiding officer may grant an untimely
request for oral argument only upon a showing of good cause by the
requesting party for the failure to file on time and after providing
the other parties an opportunity to respond to the untimely request. If
the presiding officer grants a request for oral argument, any hearing
held on the application must be conducted in accordance with the hybrid
hearing procedures. In essence, those procedures limit the time
available for discovery and require that an oral argument be held to
determine whether any contentions must be resolved in an adjudicatory
hearing. If no party to the proceeding requests an oral argument, or if
all untimely requests for oral argument are denied, then the proceeding
shall be conducted in accordance with 10 CFR part 2, subpart G.
For further details with respect to this application, see the
application dated December 15, 2003, which is available for public
inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room (PDR), One White
Flint North Building, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD or from the
publicly available records component of NRC's document system (ADAMS).
ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room). Persons who
do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the
documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC PDR Reference staff
by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to
[email protected].
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of February, 2004.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Stephen C. O'Connor, Sr.
Project Manager, Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 04-2934 Filed 2-10-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P